Tesla posts $717m loss yet beats revenue predictions

Tesla said it expects to produce up to 55,000 Model 3s in the third quarter Andrey Rudakov Bloomberg via Getty Images

Electric vehicle maker Tesla burned through $US739.5 million ($1 billion) in cash last quarter, paving the way to a company record $US717.5 million net loss as it cranked out more electric cars.

The company has yet to turn a profit but this quarter's loss is more than twice as high as in the second quarter previous year.

The overall performance pleased investors enough to send Tesla stock up more than 11 percent in after-market trading, where it topped out above $330 per share.

While its reassuring to see Model 3 production remain steady, you might remember that Tesla a few weeks ago said that it could get production up to 6,000 units per week by July, a target date that has since been pushed back to August.

Excluding items, Tesla reported a loss of $2.45 per share, compared with expectations of a loss of $2.92. The call triggered a stock sell-off and raised questions about Musk's behavior.

The company laid off nine percent of its workforce in the second quarter as it attempted to become profitable.

Tesla said its weekly production rate reached the 5,000 mark for the Model 3, plus a combined 2,000 for the Model S high-end sedan and the Model X SUV, for "multiple" weeks in July.

"The projection of profitability in the second half of the year is admirable, but is based on selling a far more expensive version of the Model 3 then many consumers had expected", Rebecca Lindland, executive analyst at Kelley Blue Book, said in an emailed statement.

Tesla projected 2018 capital spending of slightly less than $2.5 billion, compared to $3.4 billion a year ago.

Musk made waves on the May call by cutting off questions and calling them "boring" and "boneheaded", which was followed by a drop in the automaker's shares the following day.

The Wall Street Journalreports that Tesla has held preliminary discussions with two German states as it looks to lock down a location where it can build its future models and batteries. Tesla projected total 2018 capital spending at just below $2.5 billion.

Tesla stock climbed as much as 5.7 per cent to US$317.95 as of 5 p.m.in NY.

And not only was the company's outlook more muted, so was CEO Elon Musk.

After quietly upgrading its semi-autonomous driving suite, Autopilot, almost a year ago, Tesla has been working hard on its next-generation hardware. Musk was also enthusiastic about the premise of Tesla owners receiving prizes for completing the Atari titles.

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